Scottish Executive

Animal Welfare

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce its proposed animal welfare legislation.

Lewis Macdonald: Following our consultation on proposals to revise existing animal welfare legislation, issued earlier this year, we intend to introduce legislation during the course of this Parliament.

Broadcasting

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the proposed changes at BBC Scotland will have on regional programming.

Ms Patricia Ferguson: : Broadcasting is a reserved matter. However, the Scottish Executive welcomes the BBC’s commitment, in its announcement on 7 December, to enhance local and regional services.

Broadcasting

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the proposed changes at BBC Scotland will have on educational programming.

Patricia Ferguson: : Broadcasting is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive values the commitment of BBC Scotland to deliver services to education and for young people. There is no reason to suppose that the BBC’s recent announcement implies any reduction in its commitment to educational programming.

Broadcasting

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with BBC Scotland on the outcome of its recent review process.

Patricia Ferguson: : Broadcasting is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has thus far had no formal discussions with BBC Scotland on the outcome of the BBC’s recent review process.

Business Rates

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered community amateur sports clubs are receiving relief from business rates.

Mr Tom McCabe: : The information requested is not held centrally. The Executive has secured a voluntary agreement with local authorities to grant at least 80% discretionary relief to registered CASCs effective from 1 April 2004.

Central Heating Programme

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on its programmes to install central heating and insulation in pensioners’ homes.

Johann Lamont: : I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Since the programme began in September 2001 until the end of November 2004, 26,628 central heating systems have been installed by Eaga Partnership, who administer the programme on behalf of the Scottish Executive, in homes occupied by the over 60s. Since 1999 more than 204,709 homes have benefited from insulation measures under the warm deal programme but this includes both pensioners and those on certain benefits.

Central Heating Programme

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that the installation of central heating and insulation in pensioners’ homes is being carried out by accredited companies and to the highest standards of quality.

Johann Lamont: : I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Eaga Partnership, who administer the programme on behalf of the Scottish Executive, ensure all installers engaged on the programme have proper accreditation such as Corgi Registration. Every central heating installation is inspected to ensure high standards of workmanship and safety.

Central Heating Programme

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it has monitored customer satisfaction of the work carried out to install central heating and insulation in pensioners’ homes.

Johann Lamont: : I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Eaga Partnership, who administer the programme on behalf of the Scottish Executive, issue applicants to the programme with a questionnaire to record their satisfaction with the installation process.

  In each of the two full years the programme has been operational, 97% of applicant who completed the questionnaire indicated they were satisfied with their heating installation.

Central Heating Programme

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of complaints it has received against Eaga Partnership Ltd and its sub-contractors in respect of the programmes to install central heating and insulation in pensioners’ homes.

Johann Lamont: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Between April 2004 and November 2004, 7,369 central heating systems have been installed under the central heating programme and 7,617 insulation works have been undertaken under the warm deal programme.

  The total number of complaints received was 677 of which 173 were upheld. This represents a percentage level of upheld complaints of 1.15%, of the number of installations carried out.

Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive which authorities would be expected to exercise the supervisory and disciplinary functions set out in section 64 (1)(e)(i) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill.

Malcolm Chisholm: : Section 64(1)(e)(i) requires designated religious charities to have an organisation in which internal authorities exercise supervisory and disciplinary functions in respect of the charity. It is for the organisation itself to determine how it wishes to structure itself to meet this requirement and for OSCR to determine whether the supervisory and disciplinary structures are sufficient to allow registration as a designated religious charity. There is no preset definition of "authorities" in this context.

Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the independent task group reviewing the provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 has made specific reference to the licensing of limousines in the course of the review.

Mr Tom McCabe: : I refer the member to paragraphs 2.52-2.55 of the independent task group report which was published on 20 December 2004, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34546).

Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the independent task group reviewing the provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 has made specific reference to the regulation of lap dancing or table dancing clubs in the course of the review.

Mr Tom McCabe: : I refer the member to Chapter 15 of the independent task group report, which was published on 20 December 2004, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34546).

Drug Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11132 by Hugh Henry on 8 November 2004, what information it now has on waiting times for drug misuse treatment programmes from the national waiting times information framework for drugs services.

Hugh Henry: : Information is collected on the length of wait that clients experience from referral to assessment, and from an agreed care plan to one or more of four different types of intervention (i.e. preparatory and motivational intervention, prescribed drug treatment, community rehabilitation, and residential detoxification). The length of wait is collated in blocks of time i.e. the number of people who wait for less than one week, less than two weeks, and so forth.

  The first set of provisional reports from the information available is shown on the Drug Misuse Information Scotland website at http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/wtpilot/waiting.htm.

Education

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools are broadband-enabled.

Peter Peacock: 301 (78%) of secondary, 853 (38%) of primary and 96 (52%) of special schools have broadband connections of 2Mb or more.

Education

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with truancy levels in schools.

Peter Peacock: No, any truancy is to be deplored.

Efficient Government

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, as part of the Efficient Government Review, it intends to publish an equivalent Scottish analysis to that presented in tables 4.1 and 4.2 of Sir Peter Gershon’s report, Releasing resources to the front line: Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency and, if so, what the timetable is.

Mr Tom McCabe: : Building a Better Scotland: Efficient Government – Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity has a table on page 4 similar to table 4.1 of the Gershon report insofar as cash-releasing savings are concerned. Paragraph 24 of the document commits the Executive to publishing technical notes on the identified projects to secure £300 million per annum of additional time-releasing efficiencies by April 2005. Table 4.2 outlines a substance list of job cuts and here in Scotland we do not believe that this is the correct way to approach this issue. We will not be producing a similar table. It does not have a table similar to table 4.2 of the Gershon report. The Scottish Executive has not set a target for job reductions in the civil service or wider Scottish public sector and does not propose to publish a table similar to that of table 4.2 in Sir Peter Gershon’s report.

Efficient Government

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a calculation of the savings which it expects Scottish Natural Heritage to deliver through "a reduction in time spent travelling between offices", as referred to in Building a Better Scotland: Efficient Government Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity .

Lewis Macdonald: : I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12854, answered on 21 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Efficient Government

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cumulative savings, as a percentage of the Scottish Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2007-08, are as a result of the plans referred to in Building a Better Scotland - Efficient Government, Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity .

Mr Tom McCabe: : The Scottish Executive Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) for 2007-08 is £25,718 million. This excludes the Scottish Parliament, Audit Scotland and the Contingency Fund.

  We have currently identified £650 million of recurring annual cash-releasing saving from within the DEL in 2007-08, which is 2.53% of the Scottish Executive DEL for 2007-08. In addition, we will make further efficiencies of £95 million a year from Scottish Water and further time and cash releasing savings.

Employment

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many economically inactive people have been recorded as wanting to work in each quarter since 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: : Table 1. Number of Economically Inactive People Who Want to Work in Scotland 1

  

 
Economically Inactive - Wants a Job


Mar - May 1997
242,000


Jun - Aug 1997
249,000


Sep - Nov 1997
252,000


Dec - Feb 1998
258,000


Mar - May 1998
259,000


Jun - Aug 1998
238,000


Sep - Nov 1998
219,000


Dec - Feb 1999
221,000


Mar - May 1999
231,000


Jun - Aug 1999
217,000


Sep - Nov 1999
217,000


Dec - Feb 2000
200,000


Mar - May 2000
222,000


Jun - Aug 2000
213,000


Sep - Nov 2000
214,000


Dec - Feb 2001
226,000


Mar - May 2001
241,000


Jun - Aug 2001
222,000


Sep - Nov 2001
226,000


Dec - Feb 2002
241,000


Mar - May 2002
237,000


Jun - Aug 2002
231,000


Sep - Nov 2002
247,000


Dec - Feb 2003
238,000


Mar - May 2003
234,000


Jun - Aug 2003
214,000


Sep - Nov 2003
231,000


Dec - Feb 2004
224,000


Mar - May 2004
215,000


Jun - Aug 2004
195,000



  Source: Data are taken from Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey.

  Notes: 1. Relates to working age population.

Employment

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to A Smart Successful Scotland – Strategic direction to the Enterprise Networks and an enterprise strategy for Scotland , why statistics on the numbers of economically inactive people are shown in round thousands, including at sub-national levels.

Mr Jim Wallace: : Estimates for the number of economically inactive people are taken from the Labour Force Survey. As the Labour Force Survey is based on a sample of the population all estimates are subject to sampling error. Due to this sampling error it is not appropriate to present the estimates as exact figures and the estimates are therefore rounded. The level to which the data are rounded (i.e. thousands) is decided by the Office for National Statistics, who conduct the Labour Force Survey.

Enterprise

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made by the Energy Intermediate Technology Institute.

Allan Wilson: : The Deputy First Minister met the ITI Energy Chief Executive in September. Good progress is being made in what is a long-term project. ITI Energy has a high quality management team and advisory board in place and in its foresighting work has engaged with a wide range of key stakeholders in the energy sector. Over 70 commercial companies are now members. The first of its foresighting reports has been published with others to follow soon. I look forward to its first project investments in due course.

Environment

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place to prevent pollution of the River Clyde in the event of adverse weather conditions.

Lewis Macdonald: : This is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). I have asked the Chief Executive of SEPA to write to you about this matter.

Fire Service

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to enable the Parliament to consider the outcome of its further consultation on the future of fire control rooms.

Hugh Henry: : When the further work has been completed and discussions held on the outcome with stakeholders, we will report on the position to Parliament. We will decide on the most appropriate method of making such a report in due course.

G8 Summit

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10724 by Mr Andy Kerr on 29 September 2004, what support will be given to Perth and Kinross Council to prepare for the G8 Summit.

Mr Tom McCabe: : Scottish Ministers are committed to ensuring that the G8 Summit is successful. We welcome all the steps which Perth and Kinross Council are taking with others to that end. Executive and Foreign and Commonwealth officials are working closely with the council as well as with a range of other stakeholders to help them to prepare.

  To underline our support, the Minister for Justice has already visited the area to meet the Chief Executive of the Council and Chief Constable of Tayside Police. The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport visited the area recently. I plan to undertake a visit to the council in January to discuss summit plans.

Health

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership and remit is of the committee examining the provision of neurosurgical services in Scotland; when it is expected to report, and whether implementation of any recommendations will be delayed until after the conclusion, and consideration, of the review of the National Framework for Service Change, chaired by David Kerr.

Mr Andy Kerr: : The committee to which the member refers is a sub-group of the National Framework for Service Change and accordingly it’s conclusions will form part of the report that Scottish ministers commissioned from David Kerr and his Advisory Group. The remit of the sub-group is to examine the future configuration of neurosurgery services in Scotland in order to inform work on the planning of highly specialised care. A list of the membership of the sub-group is set out as follows;

  James Kennedy

  Chair and Member of the National Framework Advisory Group

  Professor Ian Whittle

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  Professor Ian Bone

  Consultant Neurologist

  Mr David Mowle

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  Dr Adam Bryson

  Medical Director

  National Services Scotland

  Dr Annie Ingram

  Regional Planning & Workforce Co-Ordinator

  Dr Aileen Keel

  Deputy CMO

  Hilary Mounfield

  Chief Executive

  Dr Evelyn Teasdale

  Consultant Radiologist

  Elizabeth Preston

  Assistant General Manager

  Dr Uwe Spelmeyer

  Consultant Neurologist

  Mr James Steers

  Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon

  Dr Robert McWilliam

  Consultant Paediatric Neurologist

  Will Scott

  National Planning Team

  Myra Duncan

  Advisor

  National Planning Team

  Professor Graham Teasdale

  President, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Glasgow

  Karen Bruce

  Deputy Head, Allied Health Professions

  Miss Lynn Myles

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  Miss Jennifer Brown

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  Mr Kenneth Lindsay

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  James Miller

  General Manager Regional Services

  Mr David Currie

  Consultant Neurosurgeon

  Callum Kerr

  General Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service

  Mark Hazelwood

  Neurological Alliance Scotland

  Dr Martin Kirkpatrick

  Consultant Paediatric Neurologist

  Andrew Wynd

  Chief Executive.

Housing

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue a planning advice note on affordable housing and, if so, what consultation will take place prior to its issue.

Malcolm Chisholm: : We are committed to issuing a Planning Advice Note (PAN) on affordable housing. We expect the PAN to issue early in 2005.

  We do not normally carry out formal consultation on Planning Advice Notes, which set out advice and good practice rather than policy. In preparing a draft, however, we have discussed the relevant issues with a range of interested parties.

Information Technology

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage the development of IT services in government service delivery.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive is encouraging the development of IT services through its Modernising Government Fund pursuit of our electronic service delivery target of making all services available online, where feasible, by 2005.

  I have announced the third round of the Fund which will bring our support to more than £100 million in total.

Justice

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Home Office regarding a trespass law applying to Holyrood House and Balmoral Castle estates.

Cathy Jamieson: : We have been in close touch with the Home Office on a range of issues that are contained within the Serious and Organised Crime Agency Bill, including the proposed new trespass offence.

Justice

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government over the proposed introduction of non-jury trials in England and Wales.

Cathy Jamieson: : I refer the member to the answer to question S2F-1240 answered by the First Minister on 25 November 2004 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/sch/search .

Justice

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to introduce a postal citation system for witnesses due to attend court.

Colin Boyd QC: : The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) introduced a national system of postal citation and countermand for civilian witnesses in summary trials in the District Court and the Sheriff Court in September 2003.

  In the 12 months to August 2004, COPFS issued 54,968 successful postal citations and 51,136 postal countermands. Each successful postal citation avoids the police tracing the witness to serve a citation in person.

  COPFS is planning to extend the use of postal citations for civilian witnesses in solemn cases in the Sheriff Court in 2005 and for civilian witnesses in the High Court in 2006.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many reported incidents of race hate crimes there have been against (a) people with learning disabilities, (b) people with disabilities, (c) gay, lesbian and bisexual people in each local authority area in each year since 1999 and, in each case, what percentage (1) was brought to court and (2) resulted in a successful prosecution.

Hugh Henry: : The information requested is not held centrally.

Non-Domestic Rates

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10335 by Mr Andy Kerr on 21 September 2004 on non-domestic rate income since 1996, whether it will publish comparable non-domestic rate income (NDRI) data for 2003-04 and estimated NDRI for 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Mr Tom McCabe: : Figures on a comparable basis to those in the answer to S2W-10335 are shown in the following table. The figures appearing in the budget documents contain prior year adjustments whereas the returns from local authorities are actual in-year receipts.

  

Year
Budget Provision for Distributable NDRI
(£)
Actual NDRI*
(£)


2003-04
1,804,423,000
1,706,034,8811


2004-05
1,873,817,000
 


2005-06
2,008,817,000
 



  Source: Budget Publications.

  Source: Returns submitted by local authorities to the Scottish Executive.

  Note: 1. Notified return (pre-audit).

Non-Domestic Rates

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the forecast overall rates income is for 2005-06 and how this estimate compares to the most recent estimated total rates income for 2004-05, given its aim of ensuring that there is no overall increase in rates burden on businesses in 2005-06.

Mr Tom McCabe: : The current forecast of non-domestic rate income (NDRI) for 2005-06 is £1,951 million. The most recent forecast of 2004-05 NDRI, based on notified returns submitted by local authorities in October 2004, is £1,813 million. However it is also forecast that some £90 million of NDRI in 2005-06 will have to be refunded in future years as a result of successful appeals against new valuations.

Non-Domestic Rates

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) last published estimate was prior to the start of each financial year since 1999-2000 of the total amount of non-domestic rates to be collected and (b) total amount of non-domestic rates actually collected was in each year.

Mr Tom McCabe: : The published estimate prior to the start of each financial year of the total amount of non-domestic rate income (NDRI) to be collected, and the total amount of NDRI actually collected, are shown in the table.

  

Year
NDRI Forecast from Finance Circulars
(£ Million)
Actual NDR Income
(£ Million)


1999-2000
1,464
1,497


2000-01
1,555
1,577


2001-02
1,569
1,673


2002-03
1,584
1,705


2003-04
1,673
1,706



  The actual figure for 2003-04 is pre-audit.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is, per prisoner, of reception and induction to prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Such information is not available. The average annual cost per prisoner place in 2003-04 was given in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34075).

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average length of time spent in prison is for prisoners sentenced to (a) less than three months, (b) three to six months and (c) six months to one year.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information is given in the following table:

  Calculated Time-Served Factors by Sentence Length, 2003

  

Sentence Length
Time Served in Days


Less than 3 months
11


3 months to less than 6 months
32


6 months to less than 1 year
83



  These figures are calculated for each sentence length group as follows: (average daily population*365)/(number of receptions). These figures will underestimate the total amount of time spent in prison as the time spent on remand, which counts towards the sentence length, is not included in these figures.

Regeneration

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how its pathfinder urban regeneration programme will benefit the poorest communities.

Malcolm Chisholm: : The Executive has committed £20 million in 2004-06 to support three pathfinder Urban Regeneration Companies (URCs) in Craigmillar, Raploch and Clydebank. URCs are designed to develop new ways of delivering sustainable physical, economic and social benefits to disadvantaged communities. They have developed a range of proposals which will be evaluated to see if this can be replicated in other areas. In addition, the Executive has committed £318 million over three years to the Community Regeneration Fund, which will be targeted at the most disadvantaged communities in Scotland to support community based regeneration.

Renewable Energy

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with the provision of support for the development of renewable technologies.

Allan Wilson: : We recently announced a renewable energy budget of £12 million for the next three years, and a £22 million Green Jobs Fund over the same period, which will support opportunities for Scottish renewable energy businesses. Our investment of £150 million over 10 years, through Scottish Enterprise, in the Energy Intermediary Technology Institute will also help foster the commercialisation of research into renewable energy.

  The Department of Trade and Industry has made available £500 million between 2002 and 2008 for emerging renewable and low carbon technologies.

School Meals

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation has been made of the programme, Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland.

Euan Robson: Formal evaluation of Hungry for Success will commence after the stated implementation dates of December 2004 for primary and special schools and December 2006 for secondary schools have been reached.

Scottish Executive Policy

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to provide opportunities for wider civic society to identify and articulate priorities and to contribute to the formulation of the future government policy agenda.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive supports the principle of civic participation and we seek to engage our stakeholders, communities and civic society as an integral part of our policy-making processes.

  We are carrying out a range of work to identify challenges and opportunities for Scotland’s future. We welcome public debate on this issue including the Scottish Parliament’s recent futures event.

Sport

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to promote disability sport.

Patricia Ferguson: : Sportscotland works very closely with Scottish Disability Sport to develop and maximise sporting opportunities for people with a disability in Scotland and this continues to be the case today.

Sport

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce racist and sectarian abuse in sports grounds and what discussions it has had on the issue with relevant sporting bodies.

Patricia Ferguson: : The Executive is committed to tackling all forms of sectarianism, religious intolerance and racism throughout Scottish society and is addressing this by taking forward work in a range of different areas.

Supporting People

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet any shortfall in Supporting People funding to Aberdeen City Council to allow it to meet the agreements it has entered into with voluntary sector providers under the Supporting People initiative, such as the Broomhill Park housing with support development scheme.

Malcolm Chisholm: : No, The council are in the best position to decide what projects to support through the Supporting People programme. The Broomhill Park pipeline project is one of several with planned start dates in 2004-05, where no commitments on funding were ever made, and where funding from Treasury was not ultimately available. However, I have agreed to provide further transitional support by allowing carry forward of any unspent pipeline resource from 2004 -05 into 2005-06.

Supporting People

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received regarding Supporting People funding and whether it will revise the allocations announced on 1 October 2004.

Malcolm Chisholm: : Representations have been received from COSLA, local authorities and a range of other external stakeholders about funding for Supporting People. The Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring a fairer distribution of resources across Scotland and to ensuring that efficiency improvements are achieved with this funding, but I have listened carefully to the concerns raised by COSLA, local authorities, providers and other stakeholders about the pace of redistribution originally proposed.

  I am therefore making an additional £3.4 million available to increase transitional support to £20 million and slowing down the rate of redistribution so that change is manageable locally. I am also allowing councils to carry forward resources from the current year into 2005-06 to further ease transitional pressures.

  The revised allocations to local authorities for 2005-06 to 2007-08 which I am announcing today soften the impact of the redistribution process very considerably. This will help protect crucial Supporting People-funded services that vulnerable people rely on to live independently in their communities. I can assure third party providers and representatives of the different clients helped by Supporting People we will be issuing guidance to local authorities and tracking the impact of these budget changes very carefully, both to ensure that the expected efficiency gains are delivered, but also that any funding changes don’t disproportionately affect any one type of provider. We look forward to discussing this guidance with COSLA and a range of other stakeholders shortly.

  Table of revised allocations for Supporting People from 2005-06 to 2007-08:

  

 
2005-06
(£)
2006-07
(£)
2007-08
(£)


Aberdeen City
12,306,000
11,881,000
11,882,000


Aberdeenshire
9,375,000
9,440,000
9,707,000


Angus
6,404,000
6,460,000
6,688,000


Argyll and Bute
13,782,000
13,261,000
12,222,000


Clackmannanshire
3,093,000
3,242,000
3,851,000


Dumfries and Galloway
13,948,000
13,420,000
12,368,000


Dundee City
11,672,000
11,748,000
12,055,000


East Ayrshire
6,184,000
6,464,000
7,609,000


East Dunbartonshire
5,438,000
5,237,000
5,238,000


East Lothian
8,663,000
8,336,000
7,683,000


East Renfrewshire
5,789,000
5,570,000
5,134,000


Edinburgh, City of
41,343,000
39,778,000
36,661,000


Eilean Siar
357,000
454,000
851,000


Falkirk
8,275,000
8,439,000
9,109,000


Fife
26,207,000
24,506,000
24,507,000


Glasgow City
71,765,000
73,159,000
78,852,000


Highland
12,849,000
11,728,000
11,728,000


Inverclyde
7,979,000
7,684,000
7,685,000


Midlothian
5,616,000
5,404,000
4,981,000


Moray
6,401,000
6,159,000
5,677,000


North Ayrshire
13,602,000
12,242,000
12,066,000


North Lanarkshire
24,845,000
25,045,000
25,862,000


Orkney Islands
357,000
422,000
689,000


Perth and Kinross
6,226,000
6,395,000
7,086,000


Renfrewshire
16,971,000
16,329,000
15,049,000


Scottish Borders
5,956,000
5,750,000
5,751,000


Shetland Islands
788,000
815,000
926,000


South Ayrshire
8,172,000
7,975,000
7,975,000


South Lanarkshire
23,189,000
22,333,000
22,333,000


Stirling
3,800,000
3,966,000
4,649,000


West Dunbartonshire
16,187,000
15,575,000
14,355,000


West Lothian
9,761,000
9,783,000
9,871,000


Scotland
407,300,000
399,000,000
401,100,000

Teachers

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will encourage graduates to consider teaching as their first career option.

Allan Wilson: Graduate recruitment to initial teacher education is very strong. For example, in 2004 universities recruited over 80% more students to PGCE maths courses and over 50% more to PGCE English courses than in 2003.

  In addition, we will launch a teacher recruitment campaign early in the New Year. We will highlight the very favourable salaries, conditions of employment, induction arrangements, and career development and progression opportunities that teachers in Scotland now enjoy.

Tourism

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what benefits will be brought to tourism by the Core Path Network, in addition to those that it will bring to public access.

Patricia Ferguson: : The beauty of our countryside is a major attraction for all of our visitors to Scotland, but particularly those who come for a walking holiday. That part of the market alone is worth around £400 million a year. Under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, the establishment of Core Paths will make large parts of the Scottish countryside more accessible, and enhance the attractiveness of our landscape to our visitors.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many passengers travelling via Glasgow Prestwick airport commute to Edinburgh city centre.

Nicol Stephen: : This is a matter for the relevant transport operators and the airport owner. The information requested is not held centrally.

Water Fluoridation

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2F-1212 on flouridation of water by Mr Jack McConnell on 18 November 2004, whether it intends to cease funding the British Fluoridation Society.

Mr Andy Kerr: : The British Fluoridation Society’s (BFS) current grant is for the period to 31 March 2005. Any application for grant for future years will fall to be considered along with applications from other organisations, eligible for assistance under the Section 16B grant scheme.

  The BFS contributes to the body of scientific knowledge on water fluoridation and dental public health and responds each year to more than 3,000 requests for information about water fluoridation from individuals and organisations nationally and internationally.

Wheelchairs

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications were made for electronically-powered wheelchairs and, of these, how many initial applications were successful and how many applications were successful on appeal in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Rhona Brankin: : This information is not held centrally but the following information has been provided by the Rehabilitation Technology Information Service (ReTIS), which is being developed by NHS boards.

  The number of powered wheelchairs issued by each of the five Scottish Wheelchair and Mobility Centres in 2001-02 and 2002-03 is shown in the following table:

  

Centre
2001-02
2002-03


Aberdeen
102
95


Dundee
236
173


Edinburgh
139
154


Glasgow
655
816


Inverness
51
77


Total
1,183
1315



  Further information may be available from individual NHS boards.